Assighos to eodgeb ballast cab



Nov. 9 ,1926.

- 1,605,944 H. s. HART BALLAST CAR Filed July 17, 1924 665: Bar y 5Harlf @MM 'M ill) div

Patented Nest El,

LARRY S. HART, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOEL TO EODGEB BALLES'IS GUI-If YANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINGIS, A CORPORATION 05 MAINE.

BALLAST CAR.

Application filed July 17, 1924. Serial No. 726,429.

The present invention relates to ballast cars.

More particularly the present invention relates to railway dump cars designed for the purpose of expeditiously depositing ballast between the tracks and outside of the tracks upon which said cars are mounted. It is desirable to deposit ballast from a ballast car as said car travels along the tracks. and if special means are not provided for preventing flooding of the rails, such flooding is liable to occur, causing serious delays and possible derailment.

The present invention constitutes Elli i111 provement over the structure described and claimed in the patent to Summers No. 861, 552 and has for one-of its objects the provision of means whereby ballast may be deposited without serious danger of flooding 1 the rails.

A further object is to provide a car having dump means so arranged that dumping may be accomplished either between the rails or outside of the rails, the parts being so designed that a maximum amount of ballast may be safely deposited without danger of derailment. V

A further object is to provide a ballast car of the type disclosed in the Summers patent referred to, from which ballastmay be deposited expeditiously and with the exercise of a minimum of discretion on the part of the operator of the dumping mechanism of the car.

Further objects will appear as the description proceeds.

Referring to the drawing- Figure 1 is a more or less diagrammatic sectional view taken transversely of a dump car, showing in full lines the dump doors in closed position and in broken lines the positions for dumping between the rails; and

Figure 2 is a view of the construction shown in Figure 1 but with the doors in position to deposit ballast laterally of the rails.

The. numeral 1 indicates a railway ballast car having the side walls 22, which may be suitably braced by means of stakes 8-3. Mounted contiguously to the side walls 22 are the bottom walls 4-4 sloping downwardly and inwardly from the side walls 2-2. The numerals 55 indicate the cen ter sills of the car, which center sills are provided with the cope 6, which cope provides shedding member whereby lading is shed- The numerals 77 indicate swinging doors. which swinging doors are mounted in such a manner that lading may be deposited selectively from either of the side edges thereof. The doors 7-'? may be identical and when in closed position may engage with the under sides of the sills 55 and the sloping floors &l to form hopper bot-- toms. Insurance of the proper seating of said doors may be accomplished by any preferred means, as for example the means described in the Summers Patent No. 861,552 above referred to. vided, which chains are controlled by the retatable shaft 9. Rotation of shaft 9 in one direction will result in the lowering of those edgesof the doors 77 which are located adjacent to the center sills 5--5. Rotation of the shaft 9 in the opposite direction will tend to raise said edges of the doors 7-4". The outer edges of the doors 7. are controlled by the chams 10--10, each of which chains is controlled by a corresponding rotatable shaft 11. The shafts 11-11 may be independently rotatable and rotation of either of said shafts in one direction will result in the lowering of the adjacent edge of the doors 7 away from the corresponding sloping floor 4. Rotation of said shaft it in the opposite direction will result in the raising of the adjacent edge of the door 7 to closing position relative to the sloping floor l. Brackets 12-12 are provided at the side edges of each of the doors 77, said brackets having suitable eye portions for receiving the chain 10.

The wheels of the car are indicated by the numerals 13-13, which wheels ride upon the rails 1l1l. Disposed longitudinally of the car in regions intermediate of the planes of the wheels on the two sides of the car are the throttling beams 15 15 which beams may be supported in any preferred way at their longitudinal extremities and which may be provided with the struts 1616 for support midway of the length of said beams. Said struts 1616 may be carried by the center sills 5-5. The beams 15-15 are shown in the form of channels having their flanges extending downwardly and outwardly, whereby the back sides of saidchannels constitute shedding members for ballast. The back sides of saidbeams Chains 8-S are prefull lib) 15-15 also constitute stop members for the dump doors 77 in the swinging movement of said dump doors 7--7 for center dumping.

The lower edges of the throttling beams 15 15 provide means for limiting the pile of ballast deposited between the rails 14-14. The numerals 1717 indicate lines representing the angle of repose of rock ballast. The lower edges of the guard members Iii-15 coincide with the lines 17, which lines 17 extend through the planes of the rails 1414: at-regions adjacent to said rails but below the tops thereof.

As noted above, the doors 77 are independently controllable for side dumping,.so that side dumping may be accomplished either on one side of the rails 14-14., on the other side of said rails, or simultaneously on the outer sides of said rails 14E1 l.. At the: time that the doors 7-7 are swungto position or positions for side dumping, the edges of said doors centrally of the car should preferably be drawn up into proximity to the center sills 55. At acertain position of each of the doors 7-7 the ballast will tend to flow freely therefrom. Such position-is indicated by the doors in Figure 2. The doors 77 are so designed that when said doors are in the position re ferred to, that isthe position which permits the free flow of ballast, the outer edges of said doors will limit the pile of lading to a region such that flooding of the rails will be avoided. The numerals 1818 in Figure 2 indicate the angle of repose of rock ballast and said lines 1818 are so located that they extend throughthe vertical planes, including the rails 14-14, at regions adjacent to said rails but below the tops thereof. The outer swinging edges of the dump doors 77 lie approximately in the planes indicated by the numerals 1818. Said outer swinging edges, therefore, define the limits of the piles of ballast deposited outside of the rails 14 14. Railway ballast cars are commonly operated at aspeed such that the operator may walk along with said cars asthe depositing of ballast is being accomplished. Thisspeed of the car may be taken to beapproximately four miles per hour.

It will be noted that the. throttling beams are-so placed that their lower edges: are in a plane substantially coincident with. the

angle of repose of the ballast material, which plane intersects the. railbelow thetop thereof, so that a maximum amount of ballast may beadeposited betweenithe rails-without fioodingthem- It will be further. noted that thesinner swinging edges of. the .doors areso related to; these throttlingbeamsthat the inner swinging; edges are at all times.

within. a vertical plane extending upward from thfiif llllflfilaQgQi0f fhfi ll fl liDgebfl It results from this construction that no material can escape between the inner swinging edges of the doors and the upper edges of the throttling beams, but that all material must pass between the throttling beams.

Though a preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail, it will be clear that many modifications will. occur to those skilled in the art. It is intended to cover all such modifications that fall within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A car of the class described having a bottomcomprising a door arranged as a unit to drop downwardly from the adjacent side oi said car to discharge the load laterally of said car and arranged to drop downwardly from the center sill from a line at or=near said center sill to discharge the load between the rails upon which. said. car is mounted, said door being of such dimension laterally of the car that, when its outer edge is opened to a position at which material begins to flow freely therefrom, said outer edge will lie in a plane representing the angle of repose of such material, which plane intersects the vertical plane of the adjacent railadjacent to and below the top of said rail.

2. A car of the class described having a bottom comprising doors arranged as units todropdownwardly either from the side walls of said cars or from the center sills of said car to discharge the load, a pair of inclined throttling beams beneath the level i of said center sills, said beams being disposed in positions to'limit deposit of material at the angle of repose of said material, the base of which angle is at said rails below the tops thereof, the inner swinging edges of said doors being always within the vertical planes extending upwardly from the upper edges of said throttling beams.

3. A railway ballast car, comprising side walls, center sills, said center sills dividing said car into two hoppers, each of said hoppers beingprovided with a door having an edge adjacent to one of said center sills and another edge adjacent to a side of said car, each of said doors being swingingly mounted as. aunit adjacent to both of its side edges, and throttlingmeans mounted longitudinally of said carin a position to limit said door in itsopening movement for center dumping.

l. Al railway ballastv car, comprising side walls, center. sills,..said. center sills. dividing said car into .two hoppers,.each of said hoppers beingprovided with a door. having an edge adjacent toone. of said center sills and another edgeadjacen't to a sideof said car, each of said doorssbeing swingingly mount ed as a unit. adjacentto. bothofQitsside ed es, andgthrottling means mountedfllongitu inally ofsaid car in aposition to limit said door in its opening movement for centerdnmping, said throttling means having a lower edge extending longitudinally of said car, which edge lies in a plane representing the angle of repose of the'ballast material, which plane intersects the plane or the adjacent rail at said rail and below the top thereof.

5. A car for carrying and depositing ballast having doors each hinged to drop either from a point adjacent to the. center sill or from a point adjacent to the side of said car, each of said doors being of such length that when dropped from the side the outer edge of either of said doors will lie in a plane substantially representing the angle of repose or said ballast, which plane intersects the vertical plane of the adjacent rail adjacent to or below the top of said rail, and a pair of throttling beams beneath the level of the center sill, said beams being disposed in position to limit deposit of said ballast at the angle of repose of said ballast, the base of which angle is at said rails below the tops thereof, the inner swinging edges of said doors being always within the vertical lanes extending upwardly from the upper e l es of said throttlingbeams,

v forming a stop for the opening movement of said door :tor center dumping, the lower edge of said throttlingmember and the outer edge of said door, when said door is swung to a position from which ballast material flows freely therefrom for side dumpin lying in planes representing the angle of re pose of the ballast material which intersect the plane of the adjacent rail upon which said car is mounted at said rail below the top of said rail.

Signed at Chicago, Illinois, this l l'th play of July, 1924.

HARRY 5S. HART. 

